


cast no shadow

by Elendraug



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Healing, Canon Compliant, Episode: s15e01 Back and to the Future, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 23:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21006212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elendraug/pseuds/Elendraug
Summary: everything I want is free.





	cast no shadow

**Author's Note:**

> feeling emotional about these two
> 
> here's my [song for sam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSklJTABqus) and my [song for cas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVCHpKvyCAg)
> 
> please enjoy ♥

Sam rests his head on the cool concrete of the garage floor, breathes in the curated dust of this suburban space, with its storage bins meticulously filled with the mementos of Christmases past.

Castiel kneels next to him, his coat folding upon itself as it meets the ground. Without loosening his grip on the shotgun in his right hand, he passes his left over the laceration in Sam’s chest. All of his attention is directed into accelerating the processes of platelets and repairing polyester until Sam’s gasping is a retroactive response to phantom pain inflicted by lifelong fears.

He rolls to his side, braced by his elbow, and allows himself to recover while Castiel abandons all hope of pretense in favor of presenting this latest would-be casualty with the unbelievable facts. And to her credit, Carla takes it in stride, even after follow-up questions that only add to the absurdity of her situation as she rapidly readjusts her worldview.

Sam shrugs off his own history with a self-deprecating dismissal, and Castiel supports him as he struggles to raise himself. The sturdy, secure grip of his hand on his arm is as reassuring as the concern Cas gives voice to, unafraid and unashamed to be witnessed worrying for him.

There’s no point to persisting in any downplay of the damage; Sam has long since accepted him as allowed within vulnerable places. He pulls his shirt and jacket aside, and after a hushed outcry from their audience, he turns to face Cas and Cas alone. They close their eyes in tandem when Castiel returns to hover his fingertips once more above the exposed, extant injury written into his epidermis. 

Reading into its energies is unnerving rather than soothing, bringing to mind intrusive thoughts of infinite imagined potential for the worst his subconscious can conjure. The graceful touch of Castiel’s careful focus has no effect on the stubborn erosion of a literal plot hole, a projectile wound left upon him as a mark of the artist that can’t be so easily unmade by someone who himself was initially created by the very same masterstroke, paradoxically prior to the appearance of their author.

Even without success, the steadfast stability of Castiel’s genuine attempt is worthwhile in its own right, and leaves Sam’s heart lighter even if it’s only literally from the temporary glow of a now godless palm so close to settling upon his skin. The ink can only do so much to protect him as it rests over his ribs, bookending his heartbeat as it rattles the Enochian carved into his ribcage by the same angel standing beside him.

Castiel sees so clearly that Sam has been shaken by the experience, but all conversation ceases as the insistent vibration of his nth burner phone demands its due. He stays, solid in Sam’s periphery, ethereal even in his grounding presence, as awesome as he was on a Halloween years before, in a hotel room when he first took Sam’s hand into his own.

When the plans are again in motion, they usher their two companions out of the haunted garage and to the relative safety of the street. With enough forward movement, they’ll escape through a perimeter that is yet to be established, just a guy and an angel, saving people and leaving behind the weight of intangible things that are no longer worth expending such effort sustaining, with the overcast afternoon sun shining on their faces despite their circumstances, with no significant shadows following their footsteps.


End file.
